Unlike my other painting thus far, this alludes to more of the story. The addition of the guns makes us a party to something outside of the confines of the picture. The focus remains on the face whilst the foreground is blurred. It is interesting that those who are not familiar with the film may find it an aggressive piece and yet it is a comic part of the film.
A lot of the films I am looking at tread a line between right and wrong . I am interested in these characters that are difficult to categorize. They are not simply black and white but a grey area in the middle. Film allows us to experience emotion and violence in a safe environment however we all perceive a film differently. When we go to the cinema, we become the critic. We make a judgement as to whether a film is good or bad.
Yagami Light- the central character to my painting is a high grade achieving teenager bored with everyday urban life until a notebook entitled ‘DEATH NOTE’ falls into his hands. On reading this ‘death note’ he discovers whoever’s name is written in the note; dies. Curiosity and greed take course and Light begins a course of ridding the world of its worst criminals.
This image seemed at odds with the Watchmen painting of my previous post. While Dr Manhattan is portrayed in a blue haze, Yagami Light is seen in flame red. It is interesting how colour can also be used to portray emotion. While Blue is calm and serene, Red can be aggressive and violent. Yagami Light believes himself to be a hero serving the world justice. In this image his face is somewhat young and innocent but the colour makes us question this.
This painting is from the film Watchmen –set in an alternate 1985 where superheroes exist. The painting depicts two characters: Laurie Jupiter and Dr Manhattan.
A vigilante; Rorschach conducts an investigation into the death of a fellow crime fighter and documents everything in his journal. Enlisting the help of the other Watchmen he discovers something far more sinister that could have devastating effects for the rest of the world. This moment signifies Dr Manhattan’s renewed interest in humanity and realisation that the truth is better kept to the crime fighters alone. Rorschach however refuses to keep silent resulting in his own demise as Dr Manhattan sees no choice but to vaporise him.
The painting shows the point at which Laurie and Manhattan are about to embrace which demonstrates the one sided passion and knowledge on a higher level.
Hit Girl also known as Mindy Macready is a fictional character from the film Kick-Ass. Ultimately she is not the central character but it is more of a coming of age story about a boy who brings his love of comic book heroes into reality. Mindy’s character is taught from a young age by her father to fight and avenge her mother’s death by criminals. This particular moment I have cropped opens up the story for the next film. At this point in the film Macready loses her father and the only family she has. The film depicts good people engaging in acts of violence to achieve their goals. After this moment in the film Mindy must question these acts of brutality.
A close- up is a shot which tightly frames a person or an object often displaying finer details on a large scale.
In Sunset Boulevard Norma Desmond famously uttered the words “Alright, Mr DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” The part acted by Gloria Swanson depicts a washed up silent movie actress who craves the attention she once commanded. Not satisfied with the way that film has moved on, she dreams of returning to the silver screen. By enlisting the help of a failing screen writer she draws him in to her fantasy world.
The close- up invites the viewer to really look into the character. It interrupts the flow of the film and demands that the viewer take pause and consider things. I have noticed a difference between my first painting of this nature and the latter two; the first includes some of the background, some of the wider scene however this is left out of focus so as not to detract too much from the face. The other two paintings are closely cropped around the face alone. Perhaps there is a desire to cut out all other distractions and it is the person alone that tells the story. We do not just feel a part of the situation but are expected to feel what the character feels. What all three paintings have in common is that they are all closely cropped at the head. This was prior to my own cropping. Perhaps we no longer want to linger on an external beauty but want to get inside the mind of the character.
